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How do we make sure that cocoa farmers have a living income?
More than a million smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast earn too little to make a decent living. Wageningen University & Research and Mondelēz International want to make more people aware of this and show that we face a huge challenge in changing this.
What is a living income?
A living income is a human right. But what is it exactly? It is an income that is high enough to ensure good health and well-being for yourself and your family. It means having enough money for healthy food and being able to live in a decent house. But you should not only be able to provide food and a roof over your head. You also need to be able to provide for things like education, transport, clothing, medical care and a financial buffer with this income.
Situation of cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast
Unfortunately, this is far from the case for everyone; among the smallholder cocoa farmers, 75% do not achieve this living income. A Ghanaian cocoa farmer would have to earn 46% more to have a living income. And cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast would even have to double their income.
So there is a big gap between the real income and the living income for a lot of people. To change this, everyone in the cocoa sector has to do their part. Think of local governments, companies, NGOs, farmer organisations and financial institutions.